Council services under threat from multi-million pound spending cuts

David Knox • Published 6 Jul 2010 13:08 0 Comments

THE first swathe of cuts at Newtown St Boswells have been unveiled.

As much as £20 million will need to be trimmed from budgets from the starts of the next financial year.

And members of the ruling Executive began this week by accepting plans to reduce the number of vacant posts it fills, slashing advertising vacancies, cutting back on its use of temps and consultants, changing work patterns, reducing travel costs and scraping plans for free school meals and nursery places.

Bosses at the hard-up council hope to save £2.45 million before the end of this financial year, next April.

Finance manager Debbie Collins told yesterday's Executive meeting: "To delay the preparations for implementing £2.45 million of savings to 2011/12 would leave the council in a much tougher position to achieve the necessary savings.

"The areas identified which would produce savings in 2010/11 were recruitment, consultants and agency staff, concordat agreements, overtime and discretionary costs.

"It is imperative that action is taken to reduce expenditure both in the short term and the long term.

"This will require not only the reduction budgets but will also require rigorous management and delivery by departmental management teams."

Chiefs hope to save around £300,000 by not filling posts which are deemed as 'not business crucial' over the next nine months.

They also hope to rake back around £770,000 from a reduction in consultancy and agency fees. A further £168,000 will be trimmed from its supplies and services budget with £30,000 to be saved on travel costs.

Changing working patterns and reducing overtime has also been identified to save £500,000.

Ms Collins added: "It is essential also that procedures, behaviours and attitudes towards spending within the council are conditioned by the stringency and reality demanded by the financial context within which the council is required to operate."

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